Two Chinese geoparks enter UNESCO’s Global Geoparks Network

Two Chinese geological parks were approved Friday to enter the Global Geoparks Network established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The two parks, Arxan National Geopark and Koktokay National Geopark, are located respectively in Northwest China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Arxan National Geopark in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is characterized by its landscape of volcanoes and hot springs and a large variety of lava formations, such as rocks and volcanic crater lakes.

Koktokay National Geopark is located in the Altay Mountains of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It has a large area of mining pits, with deposits of over 80 kinds of minerals. The park is also well-known for granite landscapes and is an earthquake fault zone.

A total of eight geoparks were approved to enter the network Friday, with the others scattered in Spain, France, Iran, Mexico and South Korea. The new approval raises the total number on the list to 127.

The Global Geoparks Network was established in 1998 with support from the UNESCO, aiming at encouraging sustainable research and development, as well as international cooperation in geology.

It also seeks to raise public awareness of geological disasters and climate change. The organization also approved the application of expansion submitted by China’s Zigong Geopark in Sichuan Province, and Leiqiong Geopark in Hainan Province.